Center For Media Environment And Development Communications, CEMEDEC

As the world marks the 2023 Environment Day, Center for Media Environment and Development Communications, CEMEDEC calls on Government and individuals to stop destroying the environment.
The earth is in danger and only man- you and I -are in a position to save it. Marshall Burke, department of Earth System Science, Stanford University said of Covid-19, “Just two months of reduced pollution has saved the lives of 4000 children under age five, 73,000 adults over the age of 70”.
Reduced carbon dioxide emission and human mobility caused the earth to breathe again. Wild animals came out, rivers flowed undisturbed showing that our activities take more from the environment than we give.
The earth is for our survival and the survival of those coming behind us but current trends indicate a choking earth-an environment despoiled by industrialization and unhealthy habits with very little consideration for the earth’s sustenance.
This year’s Environment Day theme, ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ is a call for concerted effort to save the earth from suffocation from plastics. A call on the ordinary inhabitant of the earth, those who make profit from the earth’s resources and policy makers, to halt, reflect and rethink ways of restoring the health of the earth for the sake of humanity.
So much of the environment has been taken up for toxic activities, forests reserved depleted and nature so traumatized that it is fighting back with wildfire, drought, flooding, desertification, sea surges and erosion as the climate reacts. With the climate changes come tons of disasters, deaths, destruction of properties, roads, etc. and serious threats to food sovereignty.
These challenges demand that we act fast as it is now clear to all that the ozone layer is going, ice melting and regions like the Niger Delta, are gradually being submerged by water.
The challenge now is how to create a functional system that supports people without threatening the life of the earth. A need for a change of habit, better planning on environmental matters to save the environment. We have reason to take action to improve the health of the environment and by implication, reduce our exposure to diseases, poor air quality, deaths and poverty. .
The constant oil spills and pipeline vandalizations, which have destroyed the Niger Delta ecosystem and adversely affected traditional livelihoods have to be stopped; so also the federal government’s love for fines payment from gas flare offenders at the detriment of the lives of host communities.
Every effort at changing the narrative matters. Strict functional regulations on mining, persecution of defaulters, replanting of felled trees, clean-up, rehabilitation of degraded environment, replanting of lost mangroves, less demand for wild animal meat and more sustainable animal husbandry can decrease emerging infectious disease risks and lower greenhouse emissions.
Climate change has already made conditions more favourable for the spread of some infectious diseases including, respiratory, cancer, reproductive health diseases, waterborne diseases including vomiting and diarrhoea. This demands investment in environmental researches, standard health facilities.
Investing in the environment means fixing the missing gaps-creating room for water flow in our road system, dredging canals, not permitting the blocking of waterways to avoid flooding, building shore protections to save communities from sea encroachment and putting into action, the National Action Plan on Climate Change to safeguard massive loss to flooding, now a regular in the region.
At individual levels, it also entails minimizing waste; watching our diet by eating moderately and being health conscious; avoiding unnecessary consumption. Learning to conserve and preserve food.
Invest in value chain agriculture, plant trees for every felling, track and document food and crops going extinct and replant them to keep the earth feeding the environment.
Protect the forests from illegal loggers and hoodlums; protect women from attacks and loss of farm produce to maintain food sufficiency and also, reclaim natural healing products and services. To minimize waste, we should develop facilities to turn waste to wealth, save the drainages and waters from suffocation from plastics.
When we collectively begin to see the environment as our life and wealth and treat it with deserved respect, the earth will begin a journey towards replenishment and a healthy environment nurtures a healthy humanity. Join the campaign for a safe environment and invest your time, energy, knowledge and money in building a sustainable tomorrow for coming generations.
Signed:
Constance Meju
Coordinator, (234-8037106388)
June 5, 2023
#Invest in the Environment
#Healthy earth, healthy humanity